SUNDERLAND'S oldest pub is celebrating its first birthday after striking a deal to ship its beer to London.
The Clarendon, on the banks of the Wear in the East End, dates back to 1753 and reopened last May, with an in-built micro-brewery, sending real ale sales soaring.
Now pub bosses plan to expand The Bull Lane Brewery to cope with demand.
Pub owne
r John Taylor said: "The Bull Lane Brewery (BLB) is going from strength to strength. We send two barrels of beer a week to loads of local pubs such as The Kings Arms, Smugglers and Fitzgeralds.
"Thanks to Boggart Brewery Distributions we can send our ales all over the place. We have even seen our Amber and Black Barrel Ales reach pubs in London, after it was promoted by Sunderland AFC cameraman Chris Palmer."
John admitted that in some ways the BLB is doing better than the pub so they are looking to expand it on to the land in front of the venue on High Street East.
He added: "We hope to extend the brewery so we can produce more ales, as I am flattered by the response so far. This is just what I wanted."
In January the BLB won the Cask Ale Award for its East End Light as part of the 2006 Beer Festival held by Graeme Ford, landlord of the Beamish Mary Inn in Durham.
Pub manager Len Carrick, who has been at The Clarendon for three months, said: "We do tours of the brewery, so people can get a taste of what we do and sample our ales. It's good to open it up to the public as it's the only on-site local brewery."
John's latest venture is to capture the essence of ales from 1913, which will be bottled, by Wylam Brewery in Northumberland, for sale at his wife's pub, The Sun Inn, at Beamish in County Durham.
The cask ale connoisseur began his brewing career at Sunderland University, but admits he wasn't top of the class.
He said: "After my course I was a rookie brewer, but I have been perfecting my beers and Len and I have come a long way since."
The Clarendon dates back to the early 18th Century, when it was originally called the Hare and Hounds and was a magnet for sailors pouring through Sunderland's port.
Barmaid and mum-of-two Tonia Stone, who travels from Newcastle to work in the pub every day, said: "I love working here. It's a canny little pub with some friendly punters and it's doing really well for itself."
